When Spotify Wrapped told me this, I was not surprised:
My number one album of the year was The Age of Pleasure by Janelle Monae. Every time I listen, it feels like summer at a pool party or on the beach.
I was telling a dear friend recently that this is my most up-beat December in memory; I’m energized from the Japan trip, starting a new job, walking a lot in all weather (just adding good gear), and MUSIC IS SO GOOD!
One night in Tokyo we went off the beaten path and stepped into a Jazz/Blues specialty record store. I don’t claim to be an expert in these genres, but when I went to the New Releases section, I was intrigued. I couldn’t hear these records but I saw them on display, looked them up online, and ordered them online to be shipped to me at home.
I still consider these three records “souvenirs” from my trip:
- World Music Radio by Jon Batiste
- Blame it All on Love by Poolside
- Black Classical Music by Yussef Dayes
And Tower Records Tokyo was a pilgrimage. Amazing.
Back at home now, I don’t have to drive 40 minutes each way to work (the train, walking, and a campus culture are getting my stamina and enthusiasm up, for sure). But I can’t lie: Spotify and a digital music library kept me ALIVE during my four years of this commute. It is interesting to see the data my virtual music consumption generated this year, but when I look at Wrapped, I know it isn’t a reflection of everything I listened to.
When I’m a passenger in a car and someone else’s music is playing; vinyl on the record player; the bops that get stuck in my head thanks to the grocery store or cafe – all examples of things that don’t feed my algorithm on one music service. And I am GRATEFUL for this!
There’s something tangible and tactile about vinyl that will always appeal to me. And as of yet, I am not letting any app measure what I hear in this way. The record player is my little offline secret.
Physical record stores lead to serendipity the way used book stores do: One of my favorite parts of our vinyl collection was discovered at The Strand in NYC, on a day we had just been laughing about about my beloved Beck (“Bek”). We were listening to the ep of Your Favorite Band Sucks: “Beck Sucks”, and didn’t even know there was a new Beck album but found Hyperspace that day. We bought without hearing, loved it, and determined it was perfect for background music with company over.
Hyperspace became our soundtrack to hosting in 2021-22. I still love when people ask to put it on; we have built a collection for hosting . [We love the Japanese Breakfast soundtrack to videogame Sable for that reason.]
All of this music has given me energy for this new chapter of my life:
Laura Eppinger 
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